Five Big Unanswered Questions About Windows 8
By Yardena Arar | Tuesday, September 13, 2011 at 6:01 pm
Today’s formal unveiling of the Windows 8 developers preview at Microsoft’s BUILD conference in Anaheim revealed a boatload of information about the upcoming OS, which will introduce so many innovations that attendees and journalists are still trying to formulate (and assess) a coherent big picture.
But while we’re practically drowning in details, Microsoft’s presentation still leaves a slew of questions unanswered. Here are my top five:
- What’s the pitch to people who live in multiple big, beefy productivity apps that aren’t really appropriate for the Metro touch interface? I get that you can use a mouse and keyboard on Metro, and that you can click through it to a regular Windows desktop configured the way you like it, but what does Windows 8 then bring to that party?
- I searched in vain for Notepad and Paint, which at least support basic content creation, and the calculator. Will Microsoft add these down the line, or will we have to go to the cloud to get them or their equivalents (which will be problematic since there are still times when you can’t get online, period)? And speaking of productivity, it’s interesting that there’s been no mention of Office, for Metro or otherwise—and it’s notably missing from the preview hardware Microsoft distributed here.
- The notion of contracts–bits of connectivity built into the OS which let apps exchange information–is intriguing, but will the development community buy into it? Just how much will they be willing to invest in creating Metro apps? Just because Microsoft has built something into an operating system, it’s not a given that they will come.
- What will or won’t run on slates and tablets that use ARM-based chips from companies such as Nvidia and Qualcomm, and how well will they really perform in the real world? Microsoft showed a little demo of a video app with tropical fish that’s meant to illustrate how well Winv8 runs on an ARM device, but that’s not very helpful in answering the question.
- When will Windows 8 ship, what will it cost, and what will it be called (Windows 8 is the code name)? That would be nice for IT planning purposes (not to mention my own personal IT budget).
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September 13th, 2011 at 6:10 pm
Notepad and paint are there – they show up in the applications list (click the Search charm and choose applications with an empty search. click in the main pane with all the apps to browse through all apps). They come up in applications search.
They're desktop apps, though. And they're largely unchanged. Notepad, for example, doesn't use the text input that works with global spell check, as IE10 on the desktop does.
That stuff is rarely changed from the previous windows release by this point in development, though.
September 13th, 2011 at 6:23 pm
Wow, good detective work Jason. Well, that's one question answered. I'm sort of surprised they didn't create Metro tiles for these widget-y items. They did update Paint a bit in Windows 7, and it would have been helpful with screenshot creation on the preview.
September 13th, 2011 at 7:11 pm
I'm curious what they're doing with their new Metro-based app platform to promote security. MS's various current platforms don't go out of their way to wring out during development or prevent security mistakes. The resulting disruption – the number of patches you must install every Patch Tuesday – grows with the number platforms you have installed (.NET Framework, Office, the various Server-side platforms like IIS, etc.). I don't really want a tablet that requires a pile of security updates every month that could break my applications. I also don't want a bunch of insecure applications on my tablet.
September 14th, 2011 at 1:31 am
reallly? how can you guys be tech bloggers?
September 14th, 2011 at 3:39 am
Goes to show anyone can do "journalism" these days. Ugh.
September 14th, 2011 at 9:28 am
I think the big question is that if MS can succeed in making a computer that can work like a PC when you want it to and work like a tablet when you want it to, will people spend another $500 on a tablet only device no matter how good it is.
September 15th, 2011 at 1:28 am
The ARM devices run Metro only and will manage the battery aggressively, like an iPad. Apps get 5 seconds in the background. Windows Phone 7 apps can be easily ported over via Silverlight. There will be tablets and phones.
The Intel devices run Metro and Windows, and are just PC’s. Metro is a widget layer there. The Windows part will not change much from 7.
If you booted a Mac and it showed you the iPad interface until you clicked through to the Mac interface, then Apple and Microsoft’s strategies would be the same. Underneath on all devices is either OS X or NT, the best system that each one has.
There is a lot of confusion. Many people seem to think that they will be able to buy a $500 iPad clone and run Photoshop for Windows on it for 10 hours on batteries. A tablet that can run Photoshop is still going to cost you $1000, that is just going to be a PC with decent specs and touch. And that is going to be bulkier and give you much less battery life than ARM for the foreseeable future.
September 15th, 2011 at 1:39 am
Also, the ARM devices won't run FlashPlayer.
September 15th, 2011 at 10:44 am
Until its ported that is… It's just a chip after all.
September 15th, 2011 at 5:43 am
Horace Dediu in his latest 5by5 "Critical Path" podcast "Black Boxes" makes the point that there is something huge about Windows 8 that makes talking about it's feature set secondary. I wouldn't dream of oversimplifying it in text here. You have to go listen to it.
December 28th, 2011 at 8:43 pm
This really answered my problem, thank you for sharing such an information about Windows8.
January 6th, 2012 at 11:21 am
I get that you can use a mouse and keyboard on Metro,vehicle donation program and that you can click through it to a regular Windows desktop configured the way you like it, but what does Windows 8 then bring to that party?
January 7th, 2012 at 10:37 am
Looking at the picture, I believe the display is not LED as described but instead what I think is a cold-cathode display – I forget the exact name. They were displays that actively lit up and were used in early calculators and hand held video games (which also ate batteries). Carpet Cleaning Nottingham
January 7th, 2012 at 10:55 am
Having the ability to install applications from outside a tightly controlled market and being able to make choices about how and where you store your files are just a couple of the benefits to be had on Android. method Statement
January 8th, 2012 at 10:39 am
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January 9th, 2012 at 10:57 am
Will Microsoft add these down the line, or will we have to go to the cloud to get them or their equivalents? gifts for kids
January 10th, 2012 at 7:30 am
The resulting disruption – the number of patches you must install every Patch Tuesday – grows with the number platforms you have installed (.NET Framework, Office, the various Server-side platforms like IIS, etc.).
January 10th, 2012 at 7:38 am
Notepad and paint are there – they show up in the applications list (click the Search charm and choose applications with an empty search. click in the main pane with all the apps to browse through all apps). They come up in applications search. Research chemicals
January 12th, 2012 at 10:17 am
They're desktop apps, though. And they're largely unchanged. Notepad, for example, doesn't use the text input that works with global spell check, as IE10 on the desktop does.Solar panel china
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January 16th, 2012 at 11:21 pm
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January 26th, 2012 at 9:26 am
I have trouble believing notepad and calculator won't be there.
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